Noriko and Jean-Paul

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Jean-Paul helps Noriko with some basics of living as a speedster -- such as not running into walls.



Jean-Paul had debated among his options for a while before choosing the gym for his training with Noriko. The gym meant moving equipment out of the way, but it was easier than logging time in the Danger Room today and safer than practicing brakes outside where it was still icy. He was curious to find out how the girl's powers measured against his own.

Noriko's resolve to be better behaved and more studious was holding up well enough, barring a few significant lapses, but powers training was the one class she almost never cut, and particularly not when she was going to get a chance to run. It wasn't just that her superspeed was the safer way of burning off excess energy; she had come to honestly love the motion and speed of it all. And the fact that she could, in practically the blink of an eye, be very far away from everyone and everything was also a plus. She actually showed up on time to her lesson, which was shocking, and had made a conssession to the nature of the class (and the fact that it was freezing outside) and was wearing legwarmers under her ubiquitous short skirt.

Jean-Paul, clad in grey sweats, glanced up as Nori entered the gym, offering her a polite nod. He'd managed to clear a fairly large area for them to work in and padded the vertical surfaces, but it still felt cramped to him. Ah, well. They were working on maneuvers, not distance; maybe the close quarters weren't such a bad thing.

"Good to see you, Miss Kikuchi." He was making a conscious effort to keep clear of his habitual slips into French. Noriko's English still wasn't the best and neither was it his first language. He wanted to keep breaks in communication to a minimum. "I thought we would start with the basics today: cornering, braking, and interception."

"Hello, sensei," Noriko said, bowing slightly. After getting Karolina to repeat his last name for her several times, Nori had given up and decided just to skip it. Better just the honorific than to insult the new teacher Summers-sensei had found by mutilating his name. She made a face at the mention of practicing brakes - there was no question Nori needed the practice, and quiet badly, but she hated the inevitable bruises. "What is interception?"

"Interception would be working with the fact that we're capable of reacting to a situation before those around us have time to." Jean-Paul ran his fingers through his hair a moment, considering how to explain. "You might have noticed already, when moving faster than everyone around you, suddenly there is a lot more time on your hands. An instant to others may seem as long seconds in which you have time to react, and sooner or later there will be a situation unfolding where your powers will allow you to intervene when others cannot. This is generally a good thing." He offered her a rueful half-smile. "The down side being that the faster we move, the more fragile the world seems to become, and that includes the people. So it is a good idea to know how to interpose ourselves so that we do less damage than what we are trying to prevent."

Noriko stared at Jean-Paul for a few moments, and then blinked. Well, she was pretty sure that had all been English. Maybe. But she didn't know what the hell he'd just said, so she couldn't really be sure.

Damn. So much for communication.

"Sorry." He considered for a moment; he'd have to check his own speed in these sessions, at least when it came to running his mouth. "Interception would be using your speed to get between someone and something about to hurt them before anyone else can."

"Aaaa, ok. I is understand," Nori said with a nod. "But... maybe we is start with break?"

"A good idea." Jean-Paul nodded at the tape marks he'd set up on the floor. "The best way to get good at stopping is to practice measuring distance while moving fast. Doing this with walls does not work. You don't choose where to stop, the wall stops you. It is...not accurate. And it hurts, but you know that already." Shorter sentences, more direct concepts this time. "So." He tapped the first line with his shoe, then headed over to another about three feet away. "Go to that wall..." He pointed to the far wall of the gym. "Run fast as you can to me, and try to stop between these two lines." It wasn't an exact target, but still pretty small once you had momentum built up. He wanted to see how precise she was at the moment.

Noriko eyed the two tape marks, and then glanced between the two walls. Yeah, she could probably do that, although the marks on the floor weren't really going to be easy to see at speed. Nodding, she set off towards the far end of the gym. "Ready?" she called when she got there, but she didn't actually wait for Jean-Paul to respond before launched herself forward and almost as quickly her sneakers were screeching to a stop, decidedly not between the two lines, although she was just happy she'd managed it before she hit the other wall.

She'd braked too late, but Jean-Paul wasn't certain if that was a lack of practice or the target size.

"Good." He moved to stand at the side of the tape lines. "Try again, but try to stop where I am standing this time."

Noriko grinned at this as she headed back to the far end of the gym - he'd be much easier to see. "Hai, OK!" she called out, then shoved forward again.

When she pulled up short this time she was still about a foot too far forward, but she grinned, glad she'd gotten so much closer.

"Excellent!" He sounded more enthusiastic this time. "Nothing wrong with the brakes or the reflexes, it is just a matter of timing. As I said, that is nothing that practice cannot help. Shall we try again?"

---

Noriko was exhausted by the end of the lesson, having burned her reserves down to the point where she actually wanted lunch for the first time in a week, but she was also grinning her head off. She'd finally managed to stop on the mark, and more than once, just to prove it hadn't been a fluke, before she'd more or less collapsed panting against some of the mats in the gym. "Is did!" she said for what had to be the fifth time.

Jean-Paul laughed softly and went to fetch her a sports drink from the gym's cooler; her elation was contagious.

"Absolutely. So the next time you have bruises, it will be because you won a fight, yes?"

Nori snorted and informed him that, "Nori is not punch fight." She took the offered drink, opening and sniffing it warily, before shrugging and trying it.

"Oh? It's useful to know, even if it's just to beat up gym bags. Good way to work out frustrations without getting in trouble for hitting someone." Jean-Paul affected an innocent look. "Not that I ever had to learn the hard way, of course."

"For no stress Nori is run," she said, shrugging. "Hit is not good... hands not good." To prove her point she held out one had to Jean-Paul as though for a handshake, although anyone who knew her well knew that she just didn't do that.

The mild shock set the hair along Jean-Paul's forearms standing on end, but he did at least manage not to yelp as he yanked his hand back, giving his new student a wry grin.

"Point taken."